After being forced to grind out runs in untypical fashion, Kevin Pietersen
described the Nagpur pitch as the toughest he has encountered in Test
cricket, but stopped short of saying that the sluggish surface for the
fourth Test is unsuitable for an international match.

Pietersen took 188 balls over his 73 and showed enough patience to suggest
that he would equal Alastair Cook’s record of 23 Test hundreds for England
set in Calcutta last week, only to mistime an attempt to clip Ravindra
Jadeja through mid-wicket.

Supporters out here more familiar with Pietersen’s dazzling strokeplay in the
Indian Premier League